The Doctor's Dog
by Lucy of Gallifrey
Summary: The life of a tired, hungry and wounded dog changes when he hears a strange sound in the night.


I ached all over. My sides were dripping with blood, and my hind foot felt like it would never be the same again. I dragged it behind me as I walked, panting heavily, my ribs heaving outwards and inwards, my eyes so dry and blurry I could scarcely see what was before me. I knew I had to get to safety before the other dogs decided to jump on me again. The park would be my best bet. There were lots of trees and bushes there, and I could search out a good hiding place.

Grinding my teeth, trying to chase the pain away, I walked carefully down the street, sticking to the shadows and doing my best to blend in. Finally I spotted the park. Just a few more limping pawsteps away. It was at that exact moment that it started to rain. It was just a little drizzle at first, but then there was a large clap of thunder, and torrents of water cascaded down my thin body, drenching me in less than an instant. The wounds on my sides and on my hind foot stung most painfully, and I whimpered, closing my eyes tight shut amidst all the raindrops, feeling them trickle down my muzzle, into my nose, and into my mouth. Licking my chops, I realized that my throat was parched and I tipped my head downwards, lapping thirstily at the water that was already collecting in the holes in the street.

When I was finished, I looked up. There was no need to even try and hurry now. The other dogs would probably be hiding, unwilling to get their feet wet for a skinny old mutt like me. With a sigh, I slipped down to the deserted park. I looked around, felt hate in my body as I stared at the dark shadows of trees that stood there watching me, felt the wet grass under my feet, the mysteriousness and odiousness of the place, and wished that there was no such thing as London, wished I could be anywhere besides here, as long as it was dry and warm and there was somebody to comfort me. With a shake of my head, I crawled under a large bush that was dripping with water. I turned around once in my hiding place and then pressed my belly to the ground, trying to get into a comfortable position.

A cold raindrop landed on my nose, and I shivered. I was shaking all over. I tried my best to clean the wounds on my side, but it was hard for me to do it thoroughly since I could barely stretch my neck far enough. The warmth of my tongue helped my body however, and the shivers started to slow down. I looked at my hind foot and took it gingerly between my jaws. I licked at it, dislodging bits of gravel and trying to clean it as best I could. After that was done, I put my head down between my paws and waited for the rain to stop.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the rain had died down to a mere drizzle. I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep. Something must have woken me up, but what?

And then I heard it. It was a strange whooshing, whirring sound, something that I had never heard the likes of before. It was loud too. So it must be close. Was it a car? An airplane? It couldn't be, but then again, what other explanations were there?

Slowly, I got to my feet, stretched, and then dipped my head to look under the bush. How odd. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but maybe if I walked a little further...

I stepped out onto the grass, and limped across the park, climbed onto the sidewalk and sat down. There was a lamppost right beside me. The sidewalk and the road glowed in its light. The sound had stopped a while ago. Perhaps I had just imagined it? But...And then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was a blue box. That was it. From where I stood, I could see nothing special about it. I hadn't noticed it when I had come to the park a couple hours back, but then, maybe I'd been so dizzy I wouldn't have noticed it in a million years. I went over and sniffed it. It smelled like paint and wood, and fire, and time, and I didn't even know time had a smell, and maybe I was being a silly little puppy thinking all sorts of weird things like this...but there was something wrong. I could feel it in my bones. Ten seconds passed, and I was getting stiff standing in one place, waiting for something to happen. It was probably nothing. I was tired, and besides...

Before I left, I decided to lift my leg on the little blue box. I had started to pee when the doors whipped open with a gigantic whoosh of air. With a yelp of surprise, I toppled backwards and landed hard on my shoulder in the street. Growling in frustration, I got up and was shocked to see a man, standing in the box with the door open. He was staring at me with an expression of disgust on his face. I bared my teeth and raised my hackles. I couldn't see inside the box but I knew that it couldn't be very big. Just enough for him to stand up in, I wagered. "What do you think you're doing?" the man was exclaiming. "Weeing on my TARDIS?"

I just growled in answer. This man appeared to be insane. Well, of course he was. He was standing in a little blue box, yelling at a dog in the middle of the night. Did he not have a house? Did he have to stay in that box to sleep all curled up in a little ball? I felt a bit sorry for him. But then I realized I didn't have a house either. I almost laughed, if a dog could laugh that is. Since when did I feel sorry for pitiful humans?

The man smoothed down his spiky brown hair, and then took off the rectangular black glasses he had been wearing, setting them somewhere I couldn't see.

"Come here boy," he said. He squatted down in his box and held out his hand. I stepped backwards, so that my hind foot was in the road. I didn't trust him. Not one little bit.

"Oh, come on," the man said, sounding annoyed. "There's no need to be shy." I licked my lips and dipped my head.

"That's right. I'm not going to hurt you."

How could I trust him? I snarled. But all the same, I took one little step, half expecting him to jump out and grab me. But the man didn't move, he just stayed there. I took another little step, and then he reached towards me, so his hand was resting on my muzzle, just slightly. It had been ages since a person had touched me so gently like that. I wouldn't have it. With a bark of rage, I snapped at his fingers. My teeth tore through his flesh, and blood spilled onto the ground. He recoiled instantly, standing up and nursing his wounded hand. "Hey, no. No. No biting!" he yelled.

I stalked backwards, turned in a circle, my tail wagging furiously. He didn't seem particularly upset or afraid. Most people would have thrown something, a bottle, sprayed me with a hose, yelled and yelled and yelled without stopping. But he just stood there, looking a bit hurt, but nothing more. He seemed to be looking me over, taking me in, taking in everything about me.

"Well, if that's the way you want it," said the man finally. And he slammed the door.

I was quite surprised, to say the least. I had thought he would try to get me again. He wasn't like the other humans, there was something about him that was different...something that I couldn't put my paw on but something that I liked. Already I felt a bit bad for biting him.

But no! He deserved it. Though I realized that my action had not been truly justified, because all he had done was touch me, very gently too I might add. With my head down, I walked up to the door and whined softly. But nothing happened. The strange man didn't bounce out of the door like he had the first time.

Irritated, I whined louder, and scratched on the door. I didn't have to wait long for a reply. Slowly, the door opened, and the man appeared.

"I knew you would change your mind," he said, opening the door wider.

Had I changed my mind? I didn't know. I was a street dog after all. I didn't want to be getting all soft hanging around _humans. _But then I remembered the way he had stroked me, and I stepped forward, so my front toenails were just inside the box.

"Well, come along, then," he encouraged, turning around and backing up a few paces. It was then that I realized that the box was bigger on the inside. I growled, looking around the room, as confused as ever.

"Yes, yes, I know," said the man, with his hand on the console that stood in the center. He spun around once and turned back to me. "It's bigger on the inside. No need to fret. Now come on!"

Slowly, I crept in, my shoulders hunched, tail between my legs, and back paw dragging. I whined softly, as I remembered my wounds.

"Oh, boy," said the man. "You're hurt, aren't you?" I looked at the ground, my body feeling weak with fatigue.

"Just stay there!" the man ordered. "I'll be right back!" I obeyed, lay down on the cold floor, shaking with nerves. I watched as he opened a door and dove down a passageway. He had so much energy, he reminded me of myself when I was a little puppy, old enough to run around and tear through the yard, but not old enough to have some sense. I was still young, but being on the streets, having to fight for your supper every day, there seemed to be nothing left in my body that could keep me going. I felt older than I really was. I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come, but the strange beeps and whirrs that were coming from the console kept me up. I didn't know if I liked it here or not. At least it was warm and dry. I had just started to think about something else, when there was a slam of a door and the man charged out.

"Good, good, good," he said, "You're still here."

What was he going to do? With a nervous growl, I edged away.

"No, no, don't start that again. I know that you're nervous. Just lie down and stay there. This won't hurt a bit."

I was still unsure, but I stretched out and lay on my side. The man rubbed something all over the wound on my side. I yelped in pain, growling in fear and anger, as his fingers crossed over my body.

"You're not used to this, are you boy?" The man touched my neck gently. I shuddered, and then a sudden impulse came over me. I licked his hand, and felt something go through me. Warmth, hope, love. He wasn't going to hurt me, and if he did, he didn't mean to. He just wanted to help. For the first time in my life, I felt safe.

"Oh, that's very nice," said the man, rubbing my saliva off of his hand. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?" I growled.

"Oh, you don't have a name?" the Doctor said. "Well, don't worry. You will soon enough. What about...Alpha Canis One?" I thought it was a bit long. I whimpered slightly.

"Alpha, for short of course," he said quickly.

Alpha. It was a nice name. I assented with a joyous bark, but I was so tired, I could barely hear myself.

"There you go. You'll like it here with me, Alpha. You'll see all sorts of glorious places." The Doctor was now stitching the wound on my side up. It pained me a bit, but I held back my cries and lay as still as possible. As he dealt with me, he talked in a soft, comforting voice. He was the nicest human I'd ever met. But I was soon to learn that he wasn't human at all.

"You see Alpha, I come from the planet Gallifrey. You've heard of it, I suppose? Oh, you haven't? Well, not too much of a surprise, I guess. People have other things on their minds...Oh, it's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Fields of red grass...Yes, can you imagine that? Red grass. You'd have a field day. And mountains, wonderful snow covered mountains. I suppose you've seen snow. Well you haven't seen snow like this. And have you heard of the planet Barcelona? We can go, you and I. And you can see all the dogs there. Dogs that don't have noses! What do you think of that?" The Doctor talked so much, words flowed out from his mouth in a never ending stream of beauty. I didn't understand all he said, but he made me feel peaceful inside. It was like everything in my life had been leading up to this one moment, and finally I was in heaven.

The Doctor soon finished fixing my side and leg, and he carried me to a door. When he first tried to pick me up, I struggled and snapped at him, but I soon gave up and let him hold me. I rested my head on his shoulder, and breathed down his neck.

"You're hungry aren't you?" the Doctor asked me. "I would be too if I lived on the streets. How terrible." He set me down on a soft bed, and ran a hand through his hair, watching me with worried eyes all the while. "Be right back Alpha," he said and dashed off.

I looked down at the bed, and scratched the fabric with my paws. I hadn't laid on a bed since my puppy years, years that I could barely remember now. I put my head down and waited patiently.

A couple minutes later, the Doctor returned, carrying a bowl of something. It smelled delicious. My mouth watered, and I gave a pant of appreciation. He set the bowl down between my paws, and I immediately started to eat. It was a type of red meat and it filled my body with a special warmth, the same kind of warmth that I had felt when I'd licked the Doctor's hand. I finished the meal in a matter of minutes, my belly full for the first time in ages.

"Well, good night, Alpha," said the Doctor, taking the bowl away from me. "I'm sure you're very tired." Tired. I yawned in spite of myself. I was tired. I stretched out on the bed, and heard a click as the Doctor turned off the light. I lay there for a while, and suddenly realized how strange it was. I had slept on grass or rocks for most of my life. Now lying on this bed, it just felt weird, wrong. I was much too comfortable. Finally, I leapt to the floor, and settled down, so I was resting on the good side, the side that wasn't covered in bandages.

I gave a sigh of relief.

That was better.

Much better.

The following morning, I was awakened by a loud crash.

Instinctively, I leapt to my feet, forgetting where I was. A growl rippled through me, and I raised the fur on my back. I realized as I stalked forward and pushed the door open with my nose, fur still ruffled and teeth still bared, that my leg and side were almost as good as new. I could put a lot more pressure on my hind foot today, and my side no longer stung with pain. I poked my head out, so I could look at the console-room. The Doctor was there. I relaxed. He wasn't rushing around jabbing at buttons with a worried look on his face, so I concluded that everything must be okay.

He was standing with his back to me, but I could still see part of his face. He looked sad, almost, or maybe he was just deep in thought. But there was something about his eyes, something about them that looked a thousand years old. I walked over towards him, and jammed my head under his hand. He took it off the joystick that he had been resting on, and stroked me. "Hello, Alpha," he said absentmindedly.

I whined forcefully.

"Yes, yes," said the Doctor, tapping ferociously at a button on the console. "I'll take you out soon. No need to worry."

Then all of a sudden, the box tipped downwards. I let out a yelp of fear, my paws scrabbling at the floor, trying to get a hold. I slid downwards, crying out loudly.

"Oh, sorry-

I barked angrily, shutting him up. What was he doing? Was he going to kill me? I should never have trusted him. He was a mad man with a box after all! The floor shifted again, and I slipped, panting hard with emotion. My eyes narrowed, and drool flowed freely from my mouth. In a great spurt of energy, I ran at the Doctor in a rage filled fury, aiming straight for his leg. I opened my jaws and tried to snap, longing to spill his blood again, but he dodged me by darting around the console. I couldn't stop my out of control feet, and I flew past him. The box tipped downwards the other way, and I slammed headlong into a wall. Dazed, I struggled up, seeing double.

"Oh, Alpha, Alpha," the Doctor seemed utterly upset with himself. I was trembling all over. I lay flat on the floor as the box shifted and tipped, my head tight between my paws, my tail stuffed under my belly, my fur prickling with fear.

"That's it," said the Doctor. He removed his hand from the joystick and crossed to the doors. "You'll get used to all the shaking eventually." I glared at him.

The Doctor pushed open the doors, and looked back at me with a smile on his face. "I hope you wanted to go to Barcelona," he said, "Because we're here now."

Months passed.

And I was always by the Doctor's side. I ran after him, through the streets of 18th century London, across the grassy fields of the planet Castrovalva, down and back over the lands of Barcelona, where the dogs with no noses roamed, and then to the planet that was my namesake, Alpha Canis One. We went to so many places that I lost count. Wherever the Doctor went I was happy to be with him, and I followed along dutifully, doing my best to help him save the world. I was never in danger. The Doctor would leave me in the TARDIS if he was worried that there could be something that could hurt me. I would be disappointed that I couldn't come along, and would whine and whine and whine until he came back, but I knew that he was doing it because he cared about me.

But one day, something happened. The Doctor went to Gallifrey. It was the planet that he had first told me of when I had been lying on the floor of the TARDIS, that fateful night when we had first met.

The day started out normally. I woke up, went into the console room, and fussed about while the Doctor jiggled with the controls. Then he would pet me for what seemed like forever, and I would put my head on his knee, and wag my tail, panting happily. I never wanted to be away from the Doctor for a second. I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life.

Then the Doctor disentangled himself from me, and got up to steer the TARDIS. I watched his every move, felt the floor rumble and turn, and even though I still shook like a leaf, I lay patiently on the ground without so much as a growl.

The Doctor the backed away from the console, jogged to the doors and opened them. I was so excited. I jumped to my feet, wondering what planet we were visiting today.

"Sorry, Alpha," said the Doctor. "You'll have to stay behind this time." Stay. It was like a knife to the throat. I barked indignantly, but obediently sat down and watched the Doctor leave.

As soon as he was gone, I paced around the console room, my heart beating double time. He would be back, I reminded myself. He always was. But there was something wrong, something different in those thousand year old eyes of his. What if he got himself in trouble? What if I had to stay stuck in this box for the rest of my life because he was unable to come back for me? My nerves were going haywire. I had to calm myself. I lay down on the floor, put my head between my paws, but I could only stay still there for a couple of minutes. Finally, I rose, and walked to the doors of the TARDIS. To my surprise, the doors opened when I shoved my head into them. It wasn't like the Doctor to be so forgetful. Slowly, I walked out and panted in amazement. I was in Gallifrey. The Doctor had told me so much about it, it was like I was walking into his head, and seeing the beautiful words he had spoke come to life around me. There were the wonderful mountains, covered in the sparkling snow the Doctor had described, there was the red grass, the orange sky, the two suns that were so bright I felt nearly blinded. I sniffed the air, and then I started to run.

It was like a dream. Running had never felt this good. I dashed through the red grass, feeling like I was a puppy again. The air smelled amazing, like fire and ice and time. It smelled like the Doctor, the best smell in the world. Finally I came to a ravine, and I stumbled to a stop. The red grass had ceased to grow here, and all that was left was rock. I turned to the left, and then I saw him, my best friend in the whole world. I was so happy to see the Doctor, I couldn't conceal the bark of joy that left my body. I dashed towards him, and he turned and looked at me. There was horror in his eyes. I did a double take.

"Alpha!" he yelled. "What are you doing here?" It was in that moment that I smelled fear on him. Fear for me. Immediately, I started to tremble. I had done something wrong. Something very wrong.

And that was when I heard it. I heard it before I even saw it.

"Exterminate!"

A metallic sound, a grating sound that spun my head and hurt my body. It was a Dalek. The Doctor had told me about them, but I had thought they had died out.

Apparently he'd been wrong.

"Doctor!" The creature yelled, as it rolled towards us. It couldn't even be described as a creature. I didn't know how to explain it, except that the very sight of its black, cone shaped metal body sent shivers through me. But despite my fear, I raised my tail high in the air, and growled as ferociously as I could.

"Doctor," the Dalek kept yelling. "You must be exterminated!"

No.

I wouldn't have it. Not my Doctor. And as the Dalek fired its laser, I lunged forward, and jumped in front of him. I leaped so high that the ray hit me, right in the ribs. It traveled through my entire body, covering me in lightning and fire. My brain felt like it was going to explode. I heaved a gasp of pain and fell to the ground, my two front paws tucked under me. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the disoriented Dalek retreated in surprise. It hadn't expected that, it hadn't expected my interception at all. It was about to utter one last cry of anger, when it backed up and toppled off of the cliff, screaming 'EXTERMINATE!' all the way down.

I shrieked for the Doctor, my muscles starting to spasm. The pain was the worst I had ever felt. When he knelt down beside me, there were tears in his eyes, and I tried my best to settle down for him, tried my best to be brave. In the six months that we had been together, I had never seen him cry, even though it looked like he might, in the console room thinking, thinking about something, something I would never find out about now. I whimpered, trying to concentrate on the Doctor's hands, concentrate on the hands that were caressing my ruff.

I could feel myself slipping away. I was scared. I didn't want to leave. The Doctor spoke to me, but I couldn't hear him. I could barely hear anything, and all I felt was the great feeling as he moved on from my ruff and stroked the fur on the back of my neck. I looked into his pained gaze and nuzzled his hand, tried to lick it, but found that I was too weak to even open my mouth.

"Oh, Alpha, you didn't have to do that for me." The Doctor grabbed me and held me tight. I tried to lick his face now and felt his two hearts beating against my chest. I trembled.

He would be so lonely without me. I was going to be with him for years and years and years! I was going to...I moaned, hoping that he would never forget me. What if he did? What if his eyes kept on getting older and his mind got so muddled that he lost all track of time and shoved me out of his memories? What if he forgot the time when we played in the waterfall and played fetch and I lay on his chest and he patted my head and- and-

I twisted my head so I could look at him, hopelessness in my eyes.

"Alpha, I promise. I'll never forget you." He kissed my muzzle.

I had to be with him. I tried to fight the pain, tried to concentrate on the red grass that I had romped in a couple minutes ago, tried to bring myself back to the world of Gallifrey, the wonderful world of Gallifrey.

But I knew.

A Time Lord could regenerate but I couldn't.

I couldn't.

Slowly, I gave up. I lay back down on the ground.

"No. Alpha!" the Doctor yelled. I could scarcely hear him, but I felt his hands hold me, felt my body rise off of the ground as he picked me up.

If it was now, it was now. If I was going to die, I was going to die in his arms.


End file.
